Illuminated novelty pins



March 12, 1957 G. P. I Ewls 2,785,288

ILLUMINATED NOVELTY PINS Filed Nay 51, 1955 T 75 :5 E 71 l r il I 4 l 16/41775 .fa/-

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Application May 31, 1955, Serial No. 511,929

7 Claims. (Cl. Mtl-10.61)

This invention relates to illuminated novelties, and more particularly to a pin, badge or like article especially adapted for attachment to the lapel or other part of a garment, and which will be provided with a lamp bulb and battery, and with means by which the lamp may be illluminated when desired by a pull imposed on a dependent cord.

lt is an object of the invention to provide a novelty of this character which can be made very inexpensively from cardboard c-r from other sheet material of little cost. It is an object of the invention to provide a novelty of this character which will be attractive, amusing and useful and which can, because of its relatively inexpensive construction, be sold cheaply or distributed gratis as an advertising novelty.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a base member or body, made in many attractive forms and preferably of cardboard, and which will carry a battery casing in which a battery and lamp bulb is contained, together with means by which the lamp bulb can be broug t into electrical contact with the battery to thereby illuminate the bulb. The invention contemplates the use of a flexible member or pull cord, accessi- Y ble below the body by which the bulb will be caused to be illuminated when a pull is imposed on the cord. The invention further contemplates a manner in which the body and its various elements can be fabricated from a single sheet of cardboard and thus very inexpensively made.

With these, and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in View, l have devised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

Fig. l is an elevational view of the illuminating means for the device;

Fig. 2 is a face view of the blank from which the body of the device is formed;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational View of the device on a slightly larger scale;

Fig. 4 is a view looking at the underside of the same, with the battery-retaining Slide or bottom closure withdrawn;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of the illuminated novelty pin;

Fig. 6 is a rear view of the same on a slightly smaller scale;

Fig. 7 is a side View of the blank in its folded position and with the battery casing attached, and

1Eig. 8 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 3 8 of Fig. 3, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawing, 10 indicates the blank or sheet from which the body of the device is produced. The same is preferably composed of a single piece of relatively thick cardboard made in the shape shown. The reflector portion or background panel is shown in the form of a substantially circular disk 11, although this portion may be made in many other decorative shapes and may be suitably lithographed or otherwise ornamented to thereby form a background for the illuminating means located in front of it.

At 13 is shown the top panel of a box-like structure 50 situated at the lower end of the rellector panel 11, said panel 11 being provided with the central aperture 15 through which a battery casing 30 projects. Panel 13 is produced by transversely folding the blank 10 on the score lines indicated at 12 and 14. The front panel of the box structure 5i) is shown at 16, the same being located between the fold lines 14 and 17. This portion of the blank, forming a part of the front of the body, may be suitably decorated, such as for example by the representation of the candle holder shown in Fig. 3.

The bottom wall of the box structure 50 is shown at 18, the same being that part of the blank which is situated between the fold lines 17' and 20. The bottom wall 18 is provided with a central opening or aperture 19 of a size to permit the entry and removal of the battery 4 into or out of the battery casing 39. The back panel of the body of the device is shown at 25 and the same is preferably smaller than the rellector panel 11 to be concealed thereby, and is formed with the integral, laterally-projecting tabs 21 and '.22 which, when suitably folded, form end closures for the box portion 50. Holes 26 and 27 are provided in the back panel 25, and through which 'the body portion of a safety pin 33 is extended to thereby attach the pin to the rear of the body of the device.

In forming the blank 10 into the shape of the body, the

lanlt is folded on the several lines indicated respectively at 12, 14, 17 and 26, which will convert the blank into the shape shown in Fig. 7, wherein the reflector panel 19 is upstanding from the box-like lower portion 50, and the rear panel 25 is directed upwardly behind and against the reflector panel. The tabs 21 and 22 are folded on the score lines 23 and 24 in a manner to cause them to close the ends of the box structure 50.

The battery casing is shown at 30 and the same may consist of a channel-shaped strip of thin metal or other relatively stiff sheet material, and the casing 30 has its lower end portion extended downwardly through the aperture 15 in panel 13 to be positioned inside of the box 50. Formed on the casing 30 are tongues 34 which are forced through slits in the reflector panel 11 and also in the back panel 25, and the tongues 34 are turned outwardly and folded down against the back panel 25, as clearly seen in Figs. 6 and 8, to thereby hold these parts together and maintain the blank in the erected form shown in Figs. 3 and 5.

The illuminating means for the device is shown in Fig. l, wherein it will be seen that the same consists of a small dry battery 4, at the upper end of which is fitted a coil spring 3, whose upper portion engages with the threaded shell 2 of a lamp bulb 1. This establishes an electrical connection between the metal shell of the battery and the shell 2 of the lamp bulb. The spring 3 normally tends to retain the center contact 6 of the lamp bulb 1 spaced away from the center pole 7 of the battery. When it is desired to illuminate the lamp bulb, the spring 3 is compressed and the lamp bulb thus brought down to bring its center contact 6 against the center pole 7 of the battery. This compression of the spring 3 is effected by means of a pull cord 5 attached to the upper portion of the spring as shown in Fig. l. The pull cord 5 extends downwardly through the battery casing 30 and hangs below the box portion 59 as seen in Fig. 3. The cord 5 may terminate in a ball 28 or other suitable decorative object facilitating easy manual grasping of the cord. The inturned flange 31 at the top of the battery casing 30 limits the upward movement of the lamp bulb 1 out of the casing 30.A From the structure described, it will be apparent that a downward manual pull imposed on the cord 5, will cause the lamp 1 to be illuminated, and when the cord is released, the spring 3 will elevate the lamp bulb 1 and cause it to be extinguished. f A

The battery 4 and the lamp bulb l connected thereto by the spring 3 are inserted to position within the battery casing 30 through the opening 19 in the bottom wall of Vthe box portion 50, and *thisV opening is normally closed by a sliding strip 32 of cardboard or other suitable sheet-material, as shown in Fig. 4. YThe slide 32 may/be notched as at 37, or otherwise apertured to permit of unrestricted passage of the pull cord 5. The slide can bev readily drawn out, as partly shown in Fig. 4, for replacement of the battery or lamp bulb.

For the foregoing, the construction and operation of the improved illuminated novelty pin will be readily apparent. It can be fastened to the lapel or other part of a garment by the safety pin 33 and will add a decorative touch thereto. When it is desired to illuminate the device, a pull on the cord will effect that result, and the background of the lamp, consisting of the Vdecorated reector panel 11 will be illuminated by the lamp. Release of the cord will cause the lamp to be extinguished.

While I have herein suggested that the body of the device may be in a certain shape and form, it will be apparent that the shape, ornamentation and arrangement of the parts may be varied, as is contemplated as being within the scope of the invention and the claims appended hereto.

What l claim is:

l. An article of the character described comprising, a strip folded to form a box portion including a top wall and a bottom wall, vertical walls rising from the rear ends of the top and bottom walls, said vertical walls constituting upstanding panels, a battery casing in the form of a channel member extending upwardly from the box portion, a battery contained in said casing, the bottom wall having an laperture through which the battery is inserted into or removed from the casing, removable means clos- -ing said aperture, means attaching the battery casing to the panels, a lamp bulb, means for supporting theV bulb from the battery and a exible element connected to the bulb supporting means and by which the bulb is brought toward the battery to establish electrical Contact with the battery and become illuminated, said element having a portion engageable externally of the box portion.

2. An article of the character described comprising a fastening element, a reflector panel attached thereto, a box projecting forwardly of the panel, a battery-holding casing tted in and projecting above the box, said casing having an opening in its lower end through which the battery is inserted to fit inside of the casing, a Vslide operative between the battery casing and the bottom of the box for normally closing said opening, a spring connected at one end to the battery and connected at itsother end to a lamp bulb, and a flexible cord connected to the spring to compress the same when said cord is pulled to bring the bulb toward and into electrical contact with the battery to illuminate the bulb, said cord being dependent through the opening in the bottom of the casing.

3. An article of the character described comprising a sheet of cardboard doubled upon itself to form a box por tion and upstanding panels arising therefrom, the box portion having a top wall formed with an opening, a battery casing having its lower end located in the opening, means on the battery casing for fastening it to the upstanding panels, a battery contained within thecasing, a lamp bulb movably mounted on spring means adjacent to the battery and movable in opposition to said spring means to bring it into electrical contact with the battery, a pull cord for drawing the bulb to the battery, thespring means moving the bulb away from the battery when pull on the cord is ceased, the box portion being provided with an opening through which the battery is inserted and removed, the pull cord being dependent out of said opening.

4. ln an articlev of the character described in claim 3, including a fastening pin located at the back of the panels, and a slidable sheet fitted within the interior of the box portion and normally closing the opening therein, said sheet being removable for access to the battery.

5. An article of the character described comprising, a single sheet of cardboard transversely folded on spaced lines to form a box portion at the lower end of the folded sheet, flap portions for closing the opposite ends of the box portion, a channel-shapedbattery casing iitted in the top of the box portion and extending upwardly from the same, a part of the sheet forming a panel disposed behind the casing and forming a reflector, a rear panel extending behind said reflector panel, a fastening pin engaged with the rear panel, means on the battery casing penetrating the panels and fastening them together and attaching the battery casing to them, a battery contained within the battery casing, a coil spring attached to the battery, a

lamp bulb attached to the coil spring and adapted to be moved toward the battery and brought into electrical contact with the battery by compression of the coil spring, and a pull member attached to the coil spring and dependent below the box portion by which the spring is compressed to electrically Contact the bulb with theV battery to light the bulb.

6. In an article as provided for in claim 5, wherein the box portion has `a bottom wall formed with .an opening of a size suflicient to permit passage of the battery through it to reach the interior of the battery casing, a slidable closure tted within the box portion and covering the opening therein and retaining the battery within the housing, said closure being removable'to permit of removal of the battery.

7. An article of the character described comprising, a cardboard base having a box-like lower portion and a back upstanding panel, a channel-shaped battery casing open at its top and bottom and upstanding in front of the panel and attached thereto, a battery contained within the casing and having its lower portion disposed within the box-like portion, a lamp bulb resiliently supported above the top of the battery and adapted for movement to and from the battery to electrically contact therewith to illuminate the light, a exible member operative externally ofthe base to move the bulb into electrical contact with the battery, `an aperture in the box-like portion for access to the battery, and a slide movable between the lower end of the battery casing and bottom of the box-like portion for closing said aperture.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

